


Night Watch

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1600s, 17th Century, Alternate Universe, Boys Being Boys, Boys Kissing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Freedom, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Homophobia, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Louis-centric, Love, M/M, One direction AU, Sailing, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, idk - Freeform, ships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 23:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Florence was born in the 17th century, luckily so was Louis Tomlinson</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Watch

**Author's Note:**

> I obviously wasn't alive in the 17th century so not all of this will be 100% accurate

As soon as Florence saw her opportunity she took it. She had had enough of all the fancy balls, the banquets, and the suitors, all she had ever wanted to do was explore but her rich family status had never allowed her the opportunity to have a normal childhood. Nearing the age of 19, her father continued to throw men at her, all that were far too old for her and so much closer to death than she was. 

 

Her opportunity had come one late afternoon in summer. She was walking through the streets of London, this already being scandalous, with a couple of servants and an umbrella covering her fair skin. Her stupid dress trailed behind her, and her stupid high heels clicked annoyingly against the cobble stone streets, announcing to everyone around her that an important person was nearing. 

Florence and her small group of servants, that were looking around with caution as they walked along the River Thames, strolled along the river’s edge quietly. As they neared the east end of London a giant ship could be seen off in the distance, along with a massive crowed. Intrigued Florence proceeded in the direction of the crowed. As she walked through the crowed she had managed to figure out that this ship would be sailing to the New World, specifically Canada, which had been discovered a few years earlier by Champlain. Excitement burst through Florence and she pushed her way to the front of the ship, earning strange looks from many, and stood in front of the sign-up sheet. Quickly she wrote down the name Nicholas Barnet, the name of a man that she had once talked to on the streets. Just as she had finished writing her servants whisked her away into a carriage that was waiting. 

That night as Florence lay in bed she thought about what she had done earlier. This was her one opportunity to escape everything, to explore, to be someone else. But her realistic side made her come down from her daydream; ship work was hard, with little pay (not that it mattered to Florence) and she knew that men only worked on ships hence why she had written down the name Nicholas Barnet. She would have to dress like a man, talk like a man, and act like a man, all of which she had really no idea how to go about doing. A few times she had watched street men interact with each other, seeing some spit on the cobble stones and whatnot, but she would need to get an attire for a man, because as much as she hated to admit it, few men had breasts (although she would say that Uncle Albert was an exception to that statement). As the night dragged on Florence began to realize that this may not have been the smartest decision that she had ever made. Becoming a man would not be as easy as it seemed. 

The ship was set to depart in a week’s time, giving Florence a week to cut her hair, and gather manly clothing. Getting men's clothing had been easier than she expected, Florence had simply asked one of her servants, Dorothy, who she knew had a brother; to bring her men’s clothing that would fit her. Dorothy, although a little apprehensive, did as she wished and brought Florence the clothing without another word. Florence had also found a cloth that she would be able to tie around her breasts to conceal them.

The night before the ship was set to sail, after everyone had gone to sleep, Florence cut off all of her long brown hair and cut it (as best as she could with a knife) into the style of that of a teenage boy. And many tears later, she did almost convincingly look like a man. Once all of her things were packed into a small brown bag Florence made her way to the stable, grabbed a horse and rode to the River Thames and to where the ship would sail away early the next morning. 

Somehow she had made it onto the ship with everyone believing that she was Nicholas Barnet. As soon as the ship had set sail and pulled out of the harbour, the men waved goodbye to their wives, others to their mothers and they were off. Many men on the ship were around her age, the youngest around sixteen and the oldest around thirty, all of them however, set for an adventure. 

Below the deck in the crew's sleeping quarters Florence swung in her hammock that would be her living space for the next weeks. It was cramped and already smelled like sweaty men but excitement was coursing through her veins. Since Florence's group wasn't on duty yet she was able to get a couple moments of sleep until something fell onto her face. Alarmed Florence's eyes shot open to see that a boot way lying in her hammock with her, she looked up to see a boy, not much older than her standing above her with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Sorry about that mate, I'll try not to let it happen again." The boy spoke and started to chuckle.

Florence tried to speak in her best manly-but-not-to-old voice. "It's alright...um...?"

"Oh sorry, how rude of me, Louis, Louis Tomlinson, and you are?"

"Flo- um Nicholas Barnet." She smiled brightly in hopes of getting Louis to ignore that fact that she was about to say a different name, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Is it alright if I call you Nick, it's just that Nicholas seems like a mouth full." Florence nodded and Louis continued. "Anyways I hope you don't mind that I'm sleeping above you, I'll try not to fall on you in my sleep." Louis laughed and Florence couldn't help but laugh with him.

Louis climbed into his bed and Florence couldn't stop smiling, she hadn't been on the ship for more than a couple of hours and she was already making friends. Perhaps this was going to be a lot easier than she expected.


End file.
